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Deep-Dish Wild Blueberry Pie

If you've never had pie made from wild blueberries before, you'll be bowled over by the intensity of this one. The light, tender crust provides a sublime foil for the deeply flavorful fruit. Take heart if you can't find fresh wild blueberries in your area—frozen ones also yield excellent results.

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Preparation

Put a large baking sheet on oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425°F.

Whisk together brown sugar and tapioca and toss with blueberries and lemon juice in a large bowl.

Roll out larger piece of dough (keep remaining piece chilled) on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 13-inch round. Fit into pie plate. Trim excess dough, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Chill shell while rolling out dough for top crust.

Roll out remaining dough on a lightly floured surface with lightly floured rolling pin into an 11-inch round. Cut out 5 or 6 small holes with small decorative cookie cutters or use a small knife to slash steam vents toward center.

Spoon filling with any accumulated juices into shell, dot with butter, and cover with top crust. Trim top crust with kitchen shears, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Fold overhang of top crust under bottom pastry and press against rim of pie plate to reinforce edge, then crimp decoratively and brush with egg wash.

Bake pie on hot baking sheet in oven 30 minutes, then cover edge with a pie shield or foil to prevent overbrowning. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F and continue to bake until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, 45 to 50 minutes more.

Cool pie completely on a rack, about 4 hours (filling will be runny if pie is still warm).

Cooks' note:

We like our fruit filling on the soft side. If you prefer a firmer set, increase the tapioca to 6 tablespoons.

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Recent Reviews

Excellent as-written. I usually reduce the sugar in sweets (when it doesn't mess with the chemistry), and I made this pie with 1/2 the sugar it called for, and it was a big mistake, LOL! I made it with the sugar it calls for (with wild, tart berries) and it was PERFECT!! Anyway, the only change I made (that didn't merit reducing a "fork") was that I added an extra tablespoon of tapioca. I like 1 Tbl per cup of fruit. It came out perfect, not runny, not hard...perfect.
Served this to my in-laws, and it was a huge hit. She wanted the recipe and was going to get blueberries on the way home to make this herself!
If you do use large, cultivated super sweet berries, you may need to reduce the sugar or increase the lemon juice, but with wild, tart berries, the sugar is just right for 4 adults' taste who tend to not like things super syrupy sweet.

kargiver from Central Massachusetts /

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Haven't made pie in a few years, but I thought I would try this one. We live in Maine, so the blueberries are picked fresh. I used dark brown sugar and cut it to a cup, and used the juice of a fresh lemon plus the lemon zest, cause I am all about the flavor burst! I brushed my store bought crust with butter and cut a half moon in the center of the top. It smells AMAZING in the oven right now. This was one of the easiest pies. Took me about 5 minutes to make and put in the oven.

cliffdweller from Penobscot Bay, Maine /

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Always a favorite when I make it.
A note on the tapioca: I don't use the quick-cooking, just small pearl tapioca, soaked in water for 1/2 hour or so.

stillbecoming from Philadelphia /

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Excellent blueberry pie. Made this
on a vacation in Maine after a
surprising haul picking wild
blueberries. I don't like a watery
pie, so I used 6 Tbs of Minute
tapioca. It was not overly thick,
so I'm glad I increased it per some
reviewers. Taste was excellent, but
that is up to the blueberries. I
tried to weed out the less than
fully ripe ones so it would not be
too tart. Will make this again at
Thanksgiving.

belse from Warwick, RI /

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I got rave reviews on this pie. Perfect sweet/tart balance and FINALLY a blueberry pie that is not runny. The dough is flaky, but I did find it a little less flavorful than some of my other doughs. Still, a great pie! I'll be making this for the 4th of July.